What Happened To Shadow
by explodinghead
Summary: Shadow feels dysfunctional. He can't socialize with his friends, and he didn't have an adequate dessert. Can Shadow change for the better? Or will he constantly be grumpy?
1. Chapter 1

Shadow's fist were clenched as he sat down on a rock and growled. His only desire was to run away or sleep.

Mobius was ruined, and it was all because of that stupid idiot's girlfriend. And himself, of course, but he only played a minor role.

Instantly, he sprang up, and punched wildly in every direction, as if he would somehow hurt fate and reality from it.

Rage, rage, against the dying of the light-

"Hey, Shadow! Those are some really cool dance moves!"

What was that? He tilted his head around, and spotted the fox. That little orange fox was waving at him. As if he knew his name. As if they were friends.

With his two hands, he picked up the rock and hurled it at a giant tree, just to show that he didn't hear whatever that disgusting carnivore said, and even if he did hear, they weren't on speaking terms.

The rock smashed into the tree, and both were utterly destroyed. Grinning, Shadow nodded approvingly, until he spotted a hole, right underneath where the rock was.

It wasn't a very big hole, but he found that he could crawl into it quite easily, if he was curious, which he obviously wasn't.

Shadow peaked inside.

Blackness. Kind of like him. Like a camouflage.

Crawling inside, he fell about five feet down before his feet hit the dirt. It was a soft texture, like a big pillow. Forgetting any anger, Shadow went through a small opening and was engulfed in a completely pitch-black tunnel.

* * *

The tunnel went on, and on, and on. He wouldn't admit it, but he preferred walking through the dark passage into... a pair of red eyes.

Shadow swerved to the left, but the entire area was blocked by whoever possessed those deep crimson pupils.

"Chaos Control!" he shouted.

The creature stared back at him.

"Dang. Some scriptwriter must have been to lazy to actually research what powers I have."

With a punch, Shadow's arm hit the beast, and went straight through him.

It felt like a glob of jello.

Shadow tried to jerk his hand off, but the creature didn't have patience. With a groan, it grabbed onto Shadow's arm with a much stronger grip, and brought its teeth closer to the hand.

However, this gave the hedgehog an idea. Using the creature's body strength, he pulled his feet up and slammed them into its face. The feet ripped through whatever texture the beast had, and scattered his brains throughout the floor.

"This must be Eggman's plan," Shadow said, dusting off his left arm, before realizing that no one was there to scold him if he didn't clean himself.

He walked on.

After a few more minutes of walking, Shadow realized that he would go a lot faster if he would spin-dash.

Grinning, he charged up for incredible speed.

With all his might, he launched off and shot through the air before immediately smashing into pure concrete.

"Guess I'm at the end," he said, making a mental note to punish whoever built that stupid tunnel.

He looked to his right, and saw a ladder. Climbing up, his eyes flashed for a few seconds to get used to the sunlight.

As he made his way to ground level, he was reminded of what attacked him in the cave.

There before him, was an army of zombies. All with horrific red eyes.

* * *

"SERIOUSLY!"

Amy sat down and glared at him, just as he stomped off, muttering a few things which she couldn't hear.

The pink hedgehog would have lost her eyesight from excessive glaring if her friend Tails hadn't come along.

"Hey, Amy, what's up?"

"Huh?"

Immediately, she pulled out her hammer and started swinging before she noticed her orange friend trying to dodge her attacks.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tails! I guess I just got lost, thinking about..."

She regained her posture, and took a small mirror out of her purse. She said that she always thought better looking at beautiful scenery.

"What was the matter with you?" Tails cried out.

"Shadow" Amy answered, not even bothering to put a period on the end of her sentence, from all the heartfelt hatred she had for him. But the gentle breeze, the nice green grass, and the peaceful blue skies had a calm effect on her, as she reconsidered her answer.

"I guess I was a bit mean to him- considering how he could have been in an awful mood, or perhaps he forgot his dessert, or maybe his parents had a negative effect on him growing up."

"I wish I found my parents..." Tails whispered, trying to pretend that he wasn't hurt, when all he really wanted was to admit that he was-

"Oh! Stop it, Tails! You'll make us both depressed and angry! Let's go try to find Sonic. I'm sure he gets lonely sometimes."

"But didn't he just tell you to stop following hi-"

It was too late. With a strong grip, she hurled him straight out of one paragraph and launched him into the next.

* * *

Dedicated to Alma von Arena and Lucy Labrador. And 1 past and present 1, if you're still here...


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow stared into their eyes.

Heavy and rotted feet moved closer, like an erosion. It was clear that they had no regard for the hedgehog's wishes.

The hedgehog didn't feel empathetic, either. Ripping into the hearts of countless zombies, it was as though a missile plunged into the army.

Terror fell upon every zombie, as they lashed out wildly upon impact of any other creature. This way, Shadow didn't have to do any work, besides stay clear of them.

"But I want to work," he said, noticing a raindrop fall onto his head. And another. And another.

After just a few minutes, the area was covered in rain, washing away cuts from zombies, as well as drowning others who lay on the ground and couldn't move.

And the rain did something else. It annoyed Shadow.

Furiously, he started his second wave, smashing into the injured zombies. The valley turned into a pig-sty. Everything was muddy and sweaty, and full of blood.

But Shadow had no plans for stopping before his enemies did. This was not his policy, and his policy didn't allow amendments.

With a slash into the last zombie, Shadow stood and lifted his head to inspect the field.

A shocking pain stopped that.

Looking at his feet, he saw crooked zombie teeth gripping on his legs.

Ripping off the head, he threw it on the ground. However, he felt drowsy, and his head followed, along with his body.

* * *

"Where… am… I…"

The Ultimate Life Form said, slowly opening his eyes. A glint of sunlight zoomed in, and closed them again.

"Oh..."

He was covered with leaves, and felt that his head rested on a smooth rock.

Just a few feet away, Tails was busy writing calculations down on a notebook, and typing them into a machine.

"Where… am… I?" Shadow groaned, sitting up. Instantly feeling noxious, he lay back down.

"Good afternoon, Shadow!" a high-pitched voice called, a bit too close to his ear.

He heard a dish rattle as he looked to his left. A bowl of blueberries.

"Why… are you helping me?" he breathed heavily.

"You prefer drowning in mud?" Amy asked with a smile. "By the way, what were you doing way over there?"

"Um…"

Shadow felt completely stiff.

"You didn't answer..."

On the verge of shivering, Shadow huddled himself together.

Amy noticed this, and quickly shook an overhead branch. Leaves tumbled down like bunnies running around a prairie.

"That's just what friends do for each other," she replied, and turned to Tails. He was talking about something in bloodstreams, but Shadow couldn't hear him very well.

"I... don't have friends..." he said, closing his eyes, and falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Shadow felt like his joints were made out of iron. He lifted up his hands, and shook his fingers, but they lacked the flexibility and swiftness he knew all his life.

"I'm trapped."

Maybe if he slept more, tomorrow would come sooner.

Just as he closed his eyes, he heard Tails talk to Amy.

"It looks like the disease has stopped spreading."

Tails' voice fell on Shadow's ears like bricks.

"Ew... Shadow. Look at your fur!"

And Amy's own mouth wasn't much better.

Slowly, Shadow raised his hands up to his eyes. Both sides appeared to be green, although he didn't know if his eyesight was trustworthy.

"Do you want me to put dye on it?" Amy asked. "I'm sure I can return the color back to its original form-"

Shadow growled.

"Why do you want to help me?!" he asked, sitting upright.

With heavy breaths, he stopped, and lay back down.

"Because we're your friends," Amy replied.

Shadow looked at her.

"All relationships cause pain. All."

Amy thought to herself for a second.

"But there's more than pain in relationships."

Amy's answer seemed to brighten up everyone's mood just a little, and even the sunshine appeared a bit brighter.

Shadow felt happy. He didn't really like that.

"Hmph."


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow was improving steadily, and he could sit up without much effort.

One morning, he woke up, and decided to get a drink from a nearby stream. So he did.

He was too immobile to stand up, so he crawled through the grass, and finally reached his destination.

"Shadow!"

Ugh, not Amy again.

She pointed to Shadow's resting area in the shade.

"I gave you a bowl of water, Shadow. You could have asked me to refill it, or something like-"

"I'm not helpless," he said, finishing his drink, and inching back.

Knees sore with bruises, he fell down midway.

Without understanding why, his mouth said the most stupid thing it could have ever said.

"Help..."

Desperate, Shadow struggled to bring his knees up from the ground. The Ultimate Lifeform needed to be carried by a little child.

"Please..." he begged, still trying to get up.

Amy's hands were soft and gentle. Just like the grass, but with less stains.

"This is how I want Sonic to hold me on our wedding day," she said, placing him down.

Shadow snorted.

"I don't think that faker is worthy of you."

"Yes, he is!" Amy barked. "And even if he isn't, I still love him! Don't you love anything, Shadow?"

Her words reminded Shadow of something. Something... something...

* * *

"Maria!" Shadow said. "Where were you?"

"Just around, looking at everything. Isn't the view great?"

They pressed their noses against the glass.

Mobius, in all its glory, was just another speck of space.

"Makes ya feel kinda insignificant, huh?"

"Oh, Shadow!" Maria giggled. "If we weren't insignificant, we'd have no fun looking at everything! We'd be so focused on ourselves, and couldn't see anything past our noses!"

"Yeah..." Shadow said, thinking it over.

In Maria's eyes, everything seemed to get bigger and bigger.

"Let's play hide and seek! You're it, Shads!" she said, lighting bopping him on the head.

Giggling, the two ran and ran around the spaceship. Everything was a blast!

Quickly, Shadow turned a corner, right behind Maria. But Maria wasn't there. Maria was nowhere.

"Maria?"

Shadow asked, running through the long, white passageways.

"Maria!"

No response.

And then...

"Shadow!"

Maria's voice seemed to be coming from all over. Shadow heard old men grunting. It must have been that direction- no, that direction!

"Maria!" Shadow screamed, running with all his might. Where did Maria go?

But at that moment, something tugged at Shadow's arms. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't be a hero. He was lost.

* * *

All the memories flew back to Shadow in a second. It was too much.

Amy looked at him, a bit quizzically.

"Are you okay, Shadow?"

"No.

I'm not okay."

A tear fell down.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Amy sat down beside Shadow.

"I thought you might be lonely, so I brought a book to read to you."

Shadow began to list off a thousand reason why that would be a waste of time, but as soon as he looked in Amy's eyes, something felt wrong about it. Amy really wanted to be Shadow's friend. Or at least, it seemed like that. But what would Maria do if she found Shadow pouting?

"Your life is not in vain, Maria," Shadow thought, preparing to enjoy whatever Amy was going to read.

"This book is called 'Donnie and Suzy, but is it okay with you if I change the names to 'Sonic and Amy'?"

"Go for it," Shadow smiled. It actually didn't feel bad. Shadow tried grinning. He stuck out his tongue.

This exploration continued until Amy was deep into the second chapter.

"And with that, Sonic picked up his phone to call Amy and tell her that he actually loved her with all his heart-"

"BWAHAAHAAHAHA!" Shadow laughed, but stopped just as soon as he saw Amy frowning.

"Oh, sorry."

"-And with that, Amy gave the boarding passenger her ticket when Sonic realized it would be faster just to run to the airport. So he ran. And he got there out of breath. And he said, 'Amy, I love you.'

Amy replied, 'Meh. Already booked.'"

Amy stared at that sentence like it was a brick wall between Sonic.

"Nooo!" she cried, tossing the book... into the nearby stream.

Instantly regretting her mistake, she raced for the book, and dove in.

"Did you get it, Amy?" Shadow asked after about five seconds.

"Amy?"

..

...

With all his might, Shadow crawled through the thick grass. Finally reaching the stream, he didn't see Amy anywhere. So he tumbled into the water himself.

It was very peaceful.

Shadow forgot about everything for just a second, and thought about absolutely nothing.

But it was only a second. His eyes snapped open very painfully, but he needed to find Amy.

And there she was, struggling on a vine tied around her ankle.

Shadow flung himself towards the vine, as much as he could, but without much effort. He was able to reach it though, and that was the only thing that mattered.

With a snap, Amy was free.

It was her turn to save Shadow, who was still struggling in the water. Using all her power, she lifted him up and they both got a breath of fresh air.

Amy heaved him to the land, and climbed up onto the shore herself.

After the understandably deep breaths, they both looked at each other.

"You saved my life."


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow recovered quickly. He could walk, and Tails estimated just one more week left before full recovery.

But someone- or someones didn't want to wait that long.

"What's that?" Shadow asked, playing a game with Amy.

They paused for a moment to look at something. It might have just been the horizons, but horizons aren't usually green.

And the greenness was a wave.

As it got closer, footsteps and groans were audible. They knew what it was, but they tried to not believe it.

"Where's Tails?" Shadow said at last.

"He probably went back in his shed."

"He's not safe," they said together, and raced for the fox, as much as they could.

The green wall didn't stop.

Inch.

Inch.

Inch.

As soon as they reached the hut, they found the fox typing calculations into a computer.

"Zombies."

Tails knew.

Fortunantly, the shed was full of machinery that could be used in battle. They positioned their army of three right before the stream, trying to come up with a plan.

"Oh, where's Sonic?" Amy gasped.

That question was answered.

Explicitly.  
At the front of the army, there were two very green creatures.

One was Eggman.

The other-

They couldn't say anything.

Deep inside, they were desperately begging fate to say "no", but no sound came.

"Shadow, Tails," Amy breathed heavily. "I'm not ready for this."

"None of us are."

They all wanted to break down and cry, but there were emotions tears couldn't express.

Shadow and Amy and Tails gathered together and hugged. This was... it.

The zombie army moved without pausing. It advanced closer and closer. Soon it was just fifty yards away.

Amy threw her hammer with the intention to kill for the first time.

And after about an hour, they were actually making good progress. Zombies were never meant to fight in groups, and they attacked each other without understanding.

When the wind washed the debris away, and the zombies were scattered, Amy asked,

"Do you think Sonic is still alive?"

Shadow shook his head, but Tails pointed and exclaimed, "There he is!"

Forgetting that Sonic was a zombie, Tails ran up to him and hugged him.

"Remember me? Your ol' buddy, ol' pal? Remember? You were my first friend-"

Emotionless, Sonic stared ahead at Tails. And then Sonic bit off his head.

* * *

Amy burst into tears, and Shadow hugged her, trying to give her hope.

They lifted their heads up, trying to make the best of it- and they saw another green line in the horizon.


	5. Chapter 5

"Twenty two hot dogs," Shadow said.

Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog. Shadow ate a hot dog. Amy ate a hot dog.

"Those were some hot dogs," Amy said.

"Nope," Shadow said. "Just Chuck Testa."

**THE END**


End file.
